


Bleeding Out

by Kelpie169



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-08
Updated: 2014-05-08
Packaged: 2018-01-24 00:34:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1585208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelpie169/pseuds/Kelpie169
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Picking up partway through Dark Hollow, this is an AU of what would happen if Pan confronted them right as they were capturing his shadow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bleeding Out

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All things Once Upon a Time belong to Adam and Eddy. The song Bleeding Out belongs to Imagine Dragons. I just borrowed their toys and put them together.

I’m bleeding out  
So if the last thing that I do  
Is bring you down  
I’ll bleed out for you  
So I bare my skin  
And I count my sins  
And I close my eyes  
And I take it in  
I’m bleeding out  
I’m bleeding out for you, for you.

The air was ominous and heavy, pressing down on their chests as they crept forward through the mist. The skeletal trees and the stale air seemed to claw at the trio as they passed. 

The place they called Dark Hollow had totally earned its name. They broke into the clearing where even the moonlight shined red. Emma looked around with a raised eyebrow. 

I stand by what I said before-why couldn’t it be Rainbow Cove or something? Why Dark Hollow? Why is everything on this stupid, fucking, stuck-in-time island so god damned depressing?

“So, we just wait for Pan’s shadow to show up?” she asked, ambling around the clearing. Hook leaned against a tree, tucking his thumb in his leathers, drawing attention to his groin, however unintentional. Emma’s eyes darted away from the pirate, firming up her resolve. She didn’t have time to think about anything besides getting Henry back.

“Yeah,” Neal bent to dig through his bag, pulling the halved coconut out with a victorious chuckle. “And when it does we’ll be prepared.”

“You wanna tell me how that coconut works?” Emma asked, slight disbelief in her tone. Seriously? A coconut?

Neal balanced the coconut carefully on a fallen log, a little more dramatically than strictly necessary, as he explained.

“You light the candle and the shadow is drawn to it. It gets close enough, the flame will suck it in, put the lid on, then its trapped inside this bad boy.”

She rolled her eyes. Something that sounded so simple was sure to go straight to hell.

“Sounds like a fine plan, except for one thing,” Hook’s eyebrow rose tauntingly as he pushed off the tree that’d been holding him up and stalked toward Neal, shaking his lantern before dropping it on the other side of the log. It really shouldn’t be possible to see muscle ripple beneath leather like that. Emma bit her lip and turned away again. “Our lanterns went out. How the devil are we going to ignite that bloody thing?”

Neal pulled a small silver lighter out of his pocket, flipping it open with a dramatic flair. “Welcome to the 21st century.”

His sarcastic smile did nothing to alleviate Hook’s irritation and Emma rolled her eyes, pacing away from their juvenile behavior.

Neal flicked the lighter, bending to ignite the candle. A gust of wind promptly extinguished the flame and he tutted in frustration. He shook the lighter carelessly as he tried to flick it again, with no results.

“How’s it coming over there guys?” Emma called, searching the sky for any sign of the shadow. It had to know someone was trespassing in it’s private space.

Grunting, Neal flicked the lighter once more. “Hang on.”

“Let me help,” Hook demanded as he made a grab for the lighter. Neal yanked it away with a glare.

“No; I got it.”

Sighing in exasperation, Hook cocked his hip and widened his eyes. Oh dear God! Henry-Henry-Henry-Henry…Emma thankfully stopped her train of thought as the men squabbled. “Well, I’ve only got one hand and I could do it better than that!”

“You know what? Now’s not the time to try to impress Emma!”

She whirled around at Neal’s words, ready to fight back.

“Oh, you think THAT’S what I’m doing?”

She stomped her foot lightly, drawing the men’s attention to her momentarily, “Really? You’re doing this now?!”

Of all the times for them to get possessive and territorial...ugh!

Hook nodded toward her, ignoring Neal’s squawk of protest. “You heard her. Are we going to stand here and argue or are you going to get the candle lit?”

He bit the words out tauntingly, as if trying to rile Neal’s temper. Steadying the silver contraption with his hook, he flipped the lighter opened, trying to light it.

“Harder than it looks, eh pal?” Apparently Neal’s patience dwindled much more quickly than Hook’s. “Let me see. Give it to me. Give it to me!” He made a grab for the lighter, trying to wrestle it from the pirate’s hands. With a final tug, the lighter flew over their heads, landing in the dirt on the opposite side of the clearing.

Emma rolled her eyes, stomping over to the log. “Guys, we don’t have time for this.”

Men. I swear, if their stupid shit causes me to lose one extra second with Henry-

She heard a low whoosh, stopping her train of thought as she snatched the coconut and held her cutlass up. Her eyes lit on Pan’s shadow, flanked by two others. “We really don’t have time for this! Is that Pan’s shadow?!”

The wind echoed into a dull roar through the skeletal trees and Emma heard the scraping as Neal and Hook drew their swords as well. 

“Yeah that’s Pan’s shadow!” 

“What about the other two?” Hook’s voice had a tremor she’d never heard before and it made her even more fearful.

“He’s controlling them!” Neal shouted as the shadows swooped down, scratching at them.

How-? They’re just shadows!

Emma ducked as her hair blew up around her when Pan’s shadow dove, grabbing for the coconut she held. She swung around, swiping at the shadow, trying to land a hit with her cutlass. Fear gripped at her as she saw one of the shadows swoop low, picking up Hook and making him drop his sword, pinning him to a tree.

“Hook!” No!!!

“Emma!” Neal’s voice echoed in the din, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from her leather-clad pirate.

She heard another whoosh and a thud as Neal was pinned to a tree on the opposite side of the hollow. With a horrifying ripping sound, Emma’s eyes widened even more as they began ripping the men’s shadows away. Hook writhed and moaned as Neal did the same. Emma ducked down into the base of a fallen tree, her eyes trained on Hook’s body.

“Go, Emma! Get out of here!” she still couldn’t bring herself to look at Neal, even as he yelled desperately at her. Not when Hook’s face showed so much pain.

“Just go!” Hook’s eyes opened, pleading with her to save herself.

No! I can’t! We have to-candle...fuck! Hook-Henry-FUCK!

Emma concentrated, focusing on the terror she was feeling. Ignoring the screams and grunts and wind as the shadows continued ripping, she willed the candle to light.

Pan’s shadow floated slowly towards her, its eyes lighting with malicious amusement. Then the candle flared to life in an instant and the shadow flitted backwards. It clawed at the empty air as the candle worked it’s magic, sucking the apparition into it’s depths.

When the day has come  
That I’ve lost my way around  
And the seasons stop and hide beneath the ground  
When the sky turns gray  
And everything is screaming  
I will reach inside  
Just to find my heart is beating

“Well, well, well…” Emma started at the lilting cadence and tightened her grip on the coconut. Pan’s shadow disappeared into it’s hollow recesses where she snapped the lid over it, trapping it.

Hook and Neal fell roughly to the packed dirt of the forest floor, coughing and sputtering as the shadows abandoned their quarry, only to be dragged up again by some invisible force and slammed back into their respective trees.

“Hook! No!” her voice echoed in the suddenly still air as she shot to her feet from where she had curled in the recesses of the tree stump. 

Menacing laughter vibrated in the clearing and Emma twisted her head this way and that, trying to see it’s source.

“Come out, Pan! I know you’re here!” she brandished the cutlass Hook had gifted her, swinging around, trying to find the source of all their troubles.

“Not very sporting, my darling Lost Girl. That’s cheating.” Pan circled around, coming to a rest in front of her, clasping his hands together.

Ugh. Fucking nut job...as if he's taking a leisurely stroll...

“Yeah, a sword’s cheating-like you’re not going to use every weapon at your disposal. Where’s Henry? Where’s my son?!” 

“Oh, you’re only concerned about Henry then? What about,” he paused dramatically, “your parents?” 

Mary Margaret and David appeared in a puff of sickly green smoke, then sailed through the air to slam into the tree next to Hook.

“No!”

“What about Regina? Or should I call her the Evil Queen?” 

Regina appeared in another puff of smoke before slamming into the tree to Neal’s right. Vines wrapped tightly around her hands, restricting any movement.

“Tut tut. Can’t have you blasting me with one of those bothersome fireballs, now can we?” Regina snarled at Pan’s laugh, struggling fruitlessly against the invisible forces holding her body.

Emma glanced quickly around the clearing at the people she’d come to know in the last year. They were all so strong, so brave. 

So unlike me...

Emma straightened her spine, determined to be the Savior everyone expected her to be. Pan flicked his wrist nearly imperceptibly and Regina began flailing around, obviously in pain.

“No, stop!”

Regina’s body fell limp as tears trickled down her cheeks before she raised her eyes, glaring hate and malice at the sprightly villain.

“You’d willingly save your son’s other mother. That IS self-sacrificing. Hum, I wonder…”

Neal’s body convulsed spasmodically, grunting with the effort of holding back screams and Emma balled her fist at her side, gripping the coconut tightly.

“Stop it Pan.”

Her voice was low and deadly, with no hint of the uncertainty and fear that she actually felt. He quirked an eyebrow at her before Neal suddenly stopped moving. The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest assured her of his safety, even if his breathing was quicker than it should be.

Hook’s body seized, much more violently than Regina or Neal’s, his back arching away from the tree trunk he was against, unable to hold back the screams of agony.

“No! Killian!” Her heart shot into her throat and she darted toward him, only to be blocked by Pan’s gleeful face.

“Oh ho!” Hook fell limply against the tree and Pan clapped his hands giddily. “So Baelfire, the father of your precious Henry, doesn’t elicit much of a reaction, but you scream for the pirate!”

Her cheeks flamed involuntarily. Feelings she didn’t want to admit welled up in her chest, constricting her breathing painfully. Emma’s eyes frantically searched Hook’s limp body, looking for signs that he was alright.

Come on, Killian! Breathe! Please be alright.

“Emma! Don’t-” whatever Mary Margaret was going to say was cut off abruptly as a vine twined around her head, lodging in her mouth.

“Oh, come now. A Lost Girl doesn’t need the guidance of a mother,” he spat the word like a curse, something filthy on the bottom of his shoe. “I’ll make you a deal, Emma.”

“No. I’m not making any deals. You give me my son and I’ll let you live. There’s your deal.”

Hook began convulsing again, this time even more violently. Her eyes widened in horror as she darted around Pan to sprint over to the tree he was held captive against. Foam gathered around Hook’s mouth and his eyes rolled in their sockets, showing glimpses of white as his lids fluttered. She scratched ineffectually at the invisible magic coursing over him. After a few more moments, he fell limp once again. Her hand rested on his ankle, lightly stroking circles on the leather, trying to reassure herself that he was still with her.

“Are you sure you don’t want to make a deal? I can do this all day long,” Pan smiled menacingly as he stalked towards her parents. Hook let out a grunt as he came around again and she patted his leg softly before crossing to intercept Pan.

When the hour is nigh  
And hopelessness is sinking in  
And the wolves all cry  
To fill the night with hollering  
When your eyes are red  
And emptiness is all you know  
With the darkness fed  
I will be your scarecrow

“Alright, I’m listening.” She clutched the coconut to her stomach, shielding it from the covetous glances Pan kept sending it. A small sigh of relief left her involuntarily as she glanced up to see Hook’s eyes staring through her. 

Oh thank fuck he's okay!

His head shook side to side infinitesimally, still clouded with pain, begging her silently not to trust Pan.

“I’ll give you Henry,” her face lit up before the smile fell away instantly. “I just need something equally precious in exchange. Then, you’ll be free to round up your wayward band of misfits and follow me to Skull Rock. I will wait there until midnight tonight, when the moon is at it’s peak.”

“What could possibly be as precious as Henry? Isn’t he the Truest Believer that you’ve been trying to find for centuries?”

“Now that, my darling Lost Girl, is for you to decide. What is as precious to you as your son?”

Emma’s eyes darted around the clearing, lighting on each person she cared about in turn. Her parent’s eyes screamed for her to run, while Neal glowered at Pan along with Regina. Only Hook’s eyes, thankfully clear of any residual pain, burned through her. A thought struck quickly and Emma braced herself for the pain she knew would come. She inhaled deeply before summoning all her grief, all her hopelessness, all the emptiness she’d felt her whole life, all the anger she felt at this entire situation. Then she plunged her hand into her chest.

“NO!” David’s voice mingled with Regina’s and Mary Margaret grunted ineffectually, trying to push the vine in her mouth out with her tongue. But Hook hung his head silently. He knew the second she decided what she’d do. He couldn’t fault her-her entire being was focused on getting Henry back to Storybrooke. But it broke his heart because she had no idea of the consequences she was provoking.

Yanking hard, her glowing red heart, nearly blinding in it’s brilliance rested in the palm of her outstretched hand.

“Here. My heart for Henry’s,” she offered, holding the pulsing light out to Pan.

“Oh, Emma. Why in the world would I want that?” her brows knitted in confusion. “After all, I can’t do anything with your heart. Being the product of True Love and all.”

He shot a nasty look to Mary Margaret and David, still struggling against their tree. Emma took a deep breath before shoving her heart back into her chest, grimacing at the jarring sensation.

“Besides, a heart is just a heart,” his eyes flicked towards Hook and Emma’s eye widened, “until you give it to someone else.”

It was as if it happened in slow motion. Pan’s fingers gripped the dagger she hadn’t seen until that moment. His arm pulled back, then jutted forward releasing what she saw to be a beautiful dagger. Her hands dropped the coconut, Pan’s shadow soaring out and away on a roar of wind, as she willed her feet to move fast enough to make it.

Hook’s eyes widened violently and he started struggling wildly.

“Emma, no!”

“NO!”

She stumbled back, unfeeling and uncaring that she now had a dagger lodged into her chest. The sickening crunch of the blade slicing through her sternum didn't register. The sharp, hot bolt of agony that seared her nerves and threatened to undo her composure stayed at bay. The well of tears that clouded her eyes went ignored. All because she'd made it.

Hook...Killian...was fine. 

She stumbled to her right, throwing her arm out to brace herself against a tree, her mossy green eyes drifting up to find Pan’s. His eyes bled into black as he stalked carelessly towards her.

Pain bloomed through her body, dulling her senses as blood rushed through her ears with a roar. She fell backwards before she slammed harshly into the ground. Her head lolled to the side and she saw Pan’s sneering smirk as he crouched down to look into her eyes. Another piercing shot of white hot torture gripped her as Pan wrapped his slender fingers around his dagger, yanking it out of her chest with a nauseating grinding sound. A keening wail sounded out and Emma dimly recognized that she was the one making it.

“Our deal still stands. Your Henry is counting on you, sweet Savior. Follow me...if you can.”

She could hear voices, raised loudly above the eerie stillness of the clearing, but none more so than Hook’s.

She blinked slowly, feeling the pain ratcheting higher, and when her eyes drifted open again, Pan was gone.

Oh, you tell me to hold on  
Oh, you tell me to hold on  
But innocence is gone  
And what was right is wrong

Five thuds sounded as the captive heroes fell from their respective trees.

“Emma!” 

Her parents voices sounded dim and far away. Regina’s voice was shrill in the background of her mind as she shouted for Pan. Neal darted into the trees, chasing after the wayward demon boy.

But the pain roaring through her was all she could focus on as she was lifted and pulled into a hard body underneath her. Her eyes sought out it’s source and she blinked rapidly up into the startling blue depths, rimmed red with grief.

“Hold on, love. Please, Swan! Just hold on. Please,” Killian's arms wrapped around her gently, pulling her further into his lap. 

Fuck. This is going to kill him!

“I...can’t,” she gasped in pain, watching intently as a tear slipped down his cheek, “Get...Henry.”

“I’m not leaving you! Please Emma, love...please just hold on. We’ll find Rumplestiltskin and-” her breath stuttered and his fingers gripped onto her tighter, slipping off her hip as her blood continued to drain slowly out of her. 

“Hook, give her to me,” David commanded, trying to tug his daughter out of the pirate’s arms. Emma groaned in pain as they played tug of war with her broken body, curling her fingers into Killian’s black linen shirt.

“NO! Back the bloody hell away! I won’t lose her! She’s strong, she’ll-she’ll hold on,” the desperate plea in his voice stilled David. Shaking his head, he dropped to his knees beside his wife, who was clutching their daughter's hand tightly.

“I’m-sorry. I-love you...Mom and...Dad,” Emma’s voice dropped dangerously as she gasped out a raspy breath.

“No, no, no, no, no…” Mary Margaret sobbed as she bent over her body, blood smearing on her cheek.

David sat back on his heels, wiping his hand down his face, rubbing his other hand over Mary Margaret’s back gently.

My little girl. It’s too soon...parents aren’t supposed to bury their children. Oh God!

“Kill-Killian,” her voice shook and he gasped as his name left her lips. 

“Yes, love? Just-just hold on Emma, please. Just please hold on, love,” Killian’s voice trembled as he wept, trying to pull Emma back from the brink of death by sheer will alone, his hand gently coasting over her wherever he could reach.

“Killian, stop. Please...just please...promise to get-Henry,” she gasped in another shaky breath. “And-I’m sorry. I’m sorry...I pushed you-away. I’m...sorry that...I tried to deny...what I-feel. I-just...need-you to know...I-love you.”

Her hand was weak as she tried to raise it, attempting to pull him down to her. But, with a last shuddering breath, her eyes slid shut and her hand dropped to the packed dirt floor of the clearing with a resounding finality.

“Emma. Emma? Emma! No! No, Emma, no! No, love, no. Emma, come back love, please...please,” the heartbroken pleas echoed in the clearing, bouncing back and forth between the skeletal trees.

Mary Margaret turned, burying her head into David’s jacket, sobbing loudly. His arms wrapped around his wife loosely, staring brokenly at the man holding his daughter. 

“Emma!” Neal’s voice broke through their grief stricken thoughts as he skidded to a halt in the dirt next to Emma’s prone body. Reaching out to grab her body, Hook growled at him.

“Get the bloody fuck back!” 

Another sob escaped him as he bent over her lifeless form, tears covering her exposed neck. His good hand weaved through her hair, grabbing onto it as if it would keep her with him.

Neal stumbled backwards and collapsed a few feet away. “You-you really do love her, don’t you?”

Killian didn’t bother to respond to the absurd question. It was too soon. It was far too soon. The life they could have known flashed before him, his heart beating each searing staccato against his chest and he was sure he felt it shatter with every breath Emma didn’t take.

His eyes turned to her parents, holding each other in their grief-they had more time with her than he had, but still not nearly enough. And Neal-Baelfire-whatever moniker he chose to use...his astonished face just gaped at them. Killian knew that on some level Neal did love Emma, but at the same time he also knew it was more in the way a child loves a favorite toy. Not at all what he himself felt. 

From the moment he’d been bested by the stubborn lass-way back in the Enchanted Forest-he’d been slowly, but steadily falling in love with her. It grew more and more each day, edging out the darkness that had taken over his heart after Milah’s death. And he'd finally had something to live for.

But that bloody demon had ripped it away, taunting them all with not only their failure to save Henry, but the destruction of their savior. And, despite how she fought it, she was their savior. Not because of some curse, or because she was the product of true love or because she had magic...no. But because of who she was.

Hook's hand tugged gently on her hair, pulling her more fully onto him, rocking them both in his maddening grief. He pressed soft kisses onto every bit of skin he could reach as he tried to block out the reality of what was happening, not caring how long he'd been wallowing.

"Hook, we have to go. Come on."

Growling at whoever was intruding on his misery, he was startled when he looked up to find the Evil Queen herself. Confusion knit his brow as he stared up into her chocolate brown eyes, shimmering with unshed tears. 

He glanced around him, noticing the empty clearing. He noticed the previously ignored numbness in his legs, the ache in his lower back from bending over, the sharp jolt from every breath he took. But he shook them all away, knowing that he’d take whatever pain he could to stay with the woman he loved. 

"I can't leave her. I won't. It's-it's too bloody...she can't be fucking gone!"

His back bowed as be bent over her body, his tears trailing down her soft skin. He felt a light hand at his shoulder, rubbing small circles gently over his leather coat.

"Hook." He refused to look at her, just brushing his nose along Emma's cheek, nuzzling into her in a way he'd never been able to before.

A sigh of frustration sounded from behind him before he saw Regina drop onto her heels in front of him. Gingerly, she picked up Emma's limp hand, slowly weaving her fingers through them. His brow knit even further, the tears slowing in his confusion.

"Why are you here? You don't like me and I know you don't like Emma. What have you to gain from staying? Shouldn't you be hunting down the bastard who's got her-," he choked momentarily, the words lodging thickly in his throat. "Henry. Henry needs to be saved and now you're the best person for it."

"We've got until midnight to get Henry. And we will get him. I'm going to let you in on a secret," Regina sucked in a ragged breath, pausing to collect her thoughts. "I don't hate you."

He scoffed lightly, failing to see how this pertained at all to the horror of his situation. 

"And...I don't hate Emma."

That he did not expect. His eyes lifted, disbelief shining, clearly refuting her words.

"I did, don't get me wrong. But-not anymore. She gave Henry up to give him a better life. And I had him for ten years. But I was so blinded by my hatred that I squandered that love. But when she came into our lives and broke my curse-the curse I gave everything to enact-it...changed me," her fingers rubbed slow, soothing circles onto Emma's rapidly cooling skin. "She gave me a second chance with Henry. And she...she just wants what's best for him. He's OUR son. And, despite my nickname, I'm not always as evil as people like to think."

She gently set Emma's hand down and stood, brushing the nonexistent dust from her pants.

"She loved you. I could see it. And in my experience there's very little that True Love can't fix."

And with those parting words she turned silently, following the path out of the hollow.

“Oh Emma,” he sighed as more tears made salty tracks down his cheeks. “I-I can’t…” 

Hook dissolved into sobs once again as he bent over her prone form once more. 

It can’t be the end...it just can’t! What will I tell Henry? Oh God, Henry!

Hook’s mind raced as he contemplated just waiting for one of Pan’s minions to come put him out of his misery. Never, in all his years had something hurt this badly. His heart, already so broken and patched together, felt like it’d been crushed into dust. Not losing his mother, not when his father abandoned him, not losing Liam or Milah or his hand-nothing had ever devastated him quite so much.

Resignation pulled at him, urging him back to the ship. But he’d be damned if he’d leave her to rot like some pathetic fallen hero in this Gods forsaken hell.

He slipped out from underneath her, his knees nearly buckling out from under him when he looked down on his love. He bent slowly, dreading the finality of leaving the hollow. 

With a final sigh, he scooped Emma’s body into his arms, gently cradling her closer to his chest-trying to pretend that she was only sleeping. And with one last tear, he placed a soft, sweet kiss on her lips.

'Cause I'm bleeding out  
So if the last thing that I do  
Is to bring you down  
I'll bleed out for you  
So I bare my skin  
And I count my sins  
And I close my eyes  
And I take it in  
And I'm bleeding out  
I'm bleeding out for you, for you

The whoosh of magic swept over him, nearly knocking him into a fallen tree as he tightened his grip on Emma. His mind jumped to what Pan could have possibly done now, running over contingency plans to get Emma’s son and family off the island as he quickly righted himself and began striding out of the hollow.

“Killian?”

He nearly collapsed as he heard her voice, convinced that it was his mind finally breaking. But when he looked down at the woman in his arms, his face lit up with a radiant smile.

“Emma!” 

She smiled shyly, her eyes still drooping, “Hi.”

His eyes roamed over her body, taking in the flush of her cheeks and the twinkle in her eye. His limbs froze in astonishment, not wanting to let go and unwilling to believe his good fortune. 

“Ya know, my legs work just fine,” she teased, a brilliant smile lighting her face at his look of abject awe.

Killian let her legs fall as he swept her around in a circle, nearly breaking her spine in his crushing grasp. Setting her on her feet, his good hand came up to cup her face, his hook running gently over her chest where the dagger had penetrated. He found bloodied, ripped cloth and smooth, whole skin.

With a whoop of insurmountable joy, he crushed his lips to hers, pouring every emotion he felt for her into it.

She returned his kiss gladly, cupping his face with her hands before letting one trail up into his hair. A gentle tug brought him back to the present and he forced his lips away, letting his forehead rest gently on hers.

“How? I mean-you...you died,” the word choked in his throat as another traitorous tear trailed down his cheek. “I don’t-I just...Emma!” 

His grief crashed over him once more, pulling him down into it’s murky depths as he clung to her tightly. Emma ran her hand over Killian’s back gently, soothing him as if he were a child.

His face turned up, his lips seeking hers. A searing hot jolt swept through them both, replacing the grief and agony of their time in the Hollow.

“Gods, Emma. I-I almost lost you! I love you. You bloody stupid, brilliant woman-I love you!”

Emma choked on what might have been a laugh or a sob, neither of them could tell which. She smiled through the tears and brought her lips back to his.

“I love you too, Killian. God-I was stupid, I’m so sorry...so fucking sorry!” 

She kissed the tear tracks that marked his cheeks, soothing away the grief that still threatened to undo him. This solid, strong man who had always been there for her deserved so much better than a life of misery. Her heart leapt into her throat at the thought of it, of Killian dying a little more each day as the sun rose and set on his grief in a way he’d never recover from. 

Not while I’m around. Not while I can save him...ha. He saved me, now I can save him.

A strangled moan caught in his throat as Emma jumped into his arms once again, this time wrapping her legs around his hips. Her legs dug into his ass as she ground against him, throwing him into arousal as if she’d tossed him off a cliff.

“Fuck, Emma! We-can’t. Not-here…”

She ignored his plea, her hand running down his back to grip that superb ass through his leathers, her tongue battling his for dominance. His hand gripped her hair tightly as his other arm supported her backside. Killian broke away from the kiss and spun them around, slamming her harshly into the tree he’d nearly fallen into a few minutes before.

“Please, Emma. Tell me you want this. If you don’t you need to stop me-right now,” he pleaded, knowing there was no going back from this. She’d feel too good, he’d fall even further in love with her and he’d be lost in Emma for the rest of his life.

Her sparkling green eyes, so filled with life and love, stared deep into his ocean blue depths, her chest heaving with great gulps of air she’d been denied with their kisses.

“Killian. If you don’t fuck me right now, I will never forgive you. Show me how you brought me back.”

His good hand scrambled with her shirt, pulling the two halves even further apart, ripping it down the middle. She groaned as her small, delicate fingers pulled and yanked at the laces of his leathers, quickly becoming frustrated. He chuckled as he let her legs drop, setting her gently on her feet. His lips met hers in a brief peck before he pulled back.

“You do yours, I’ll do mine. Alright, love?”

With a smile to rival his own, she swiftly divested herself of her skin tight pants, leaving them to hang off her left leg. She jumped back into his arms once his leathers were around his thighs, grinding her soaking core onto him. His cock ached with need and he gasped in pleasure as she rubbed along the sensitive head.

She gripped him firmly, pulling back to line herself up. They locked eyes as Killian thrust home, both moaning in sweet ecstasy.

Killian's hips started moving and Emma moaned loudly, spurring on his actions. His hook scraped against her hip as her back scraped up and down against the rough bark of the tree. Her nails scored his back through his shirt, leaving long red gouges on his skin. 

"Gods Emma! So tight...fuuuuuuuck..."

Their hearts beat in time with each other, pounding out the rhythm, sure as their bodies were. Their breathing sped up in tandem, their hot breaths fanning over each others cheeks as they scratched and clawed the other. They became one heart, one soul, one body as her body held his, both straining and pumping towards their release. 

And it was brilliant when it hit them. Another bright whoosh of magic enveloped them, bursting out of Emma as she crested on the peak of pleasure, melting into Killian as she came down. He, in turn, brushed a soft kiss on her sweaty forehead as his orgasm subsided, nuzzling into her cheek before drifting down to plant tiny, gentle kisses on her neck and shoulder.

Killian sank back, letting his legs buckle and collapse underneath him. Gathering Emma into his arms, he buried his head in her mess of blonde tangles, gathering his thoughts and his breath.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I died-that’s really weird to say.” He barked out a choked laugh at her words before he lifted his head, “But I’m not sorry I saved you. I’d do it again a hundred times over.”

“Emma, no!” his brow furrowed and his heart seized in his chest once again, the previous golden glow of their lovemaking leaching out of him. 

“Yes! And do you know why?” She smiled when he shook his head infinitesimally, obviously not willing to take his eyes off of her for a millisecond. “Because you can always bring me back. Power of true love, pirate!”

Both their faces lit up in miraculous smiles, Killian’s heart knitting itself slowly back together as he realized that Emma truly was back. With a few more heated kisses and a squeeze of his deliciously tight ass, Emma finally pulled back and stood up.

Grinning wolfishly at her as he snapped lightly at her bare skin, Killian pushed himself up and yanked his leathers back to his hips, tucking his now spent cock inside. Emma tugged her jeans back up, buttoning them quickly.

She glanced down at the ruined tatters of her shirt, thankful that her bra remained intact. “I think I might need to borrow your shirt, love.”

His eyebrows waggled as he shucked his coat and tugged the loose linen over his head. He swaggered over to her, grinning at the way her eyes glazed over at the sight of his naked torso. He gently pulled the shirt over her head, smoothing it down her hips, seemingly marveling over the fact that she was actually there with him.

“Come on. Let’s go join the others and get Henry,” she held her hand out for his as he shrugged his coat back on.

Killian looked at her outstretched hand, contemplating the twists and turns his life had taken to get to this point. And with a deep breath and a huge smile, he laced his fingers with hers.

“Ay, love. After all, I think we make quite the team, don’t you?”

**Author's Note:**

> For more of my stories, check out kelpieskorner.com


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